1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a copying apparatus having a function of imprinting page numbers of original documents and the number of the total pages thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
(1) A copying apparatus capable of imprinting data such as a date, a page number on a copy sheet in addition to the image of an original document is provided or proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-52811.
According to the above-described copying apparatus, for example, a region corresponding to data imprinting region is light-intercepted to maintain the initial charge condition of the imprinting region when the image of the original document is exposed and scanned to form on a photosensitive member an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image of the original document. Thus, data can be imprinted onto the region.
When the imprinting of page number data is carried out in the above-described copying apparatus, normally, a total page, namely, the last page number as well as the numbers of respective of the original documents is copied on copy sheets in the form of, for example, **/## (* denotes the number of respective pages and # denotes the last page number).
(2) A recirculation document handler (hereinafter referred to as RDH) is provided or proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 55-98762.
The RDH removably mounted on the original document setting table of a copying apparatus enables a copying operation in a mode in which the image of an original document is scanned by moving the original document on the original document setting table thereof with the scanning system thereof fixed (this mode is hereinafter referred to as original document moving copy mode).
In a normal copying operation, it takes for a certain period of time for the scanner to return to the initial position thereof. In view of this inefficiency, the original document moving copy mode is employed.
When the RDH is used in the original document moving copying mode, normally, the number of original documents are counted to detect the termination point of the copying operation.
The RDH can be used in an automatic document feeding mode (hereinafter referred to as ADF mode) as well. In the ADF mode, the original document is automatically supplied from the RDH to the original document setting table of the copying apparatus and located at a predetermined position thereon and then, the scanning system of the copying apparatus is driven to scan the image of the original document. Thereafter, the original document is discharged from the original document setting table. Normally, the number of original documents is not counted in the ADF mode because the counting thereof is not required.
The original document feeding portion of the RDH can be opened so that original documents are manually set on the original document setting table.
(3) An automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF) is proposed. As described above, according to the ADF, the original document is automatically set on the original document setting table or glass and stationary at a predetermined position thereof while the original document is being scanned by the optical system, thereafter, automatically discharged therefrom.
When page data is imprinted on copy sheets with the RDH employed or in the RDH-used ADF mode, page data is often erroneously imprinted on copy sheets due to various reasons. Further, it is troublesome and takes a considerable long period of time to count the number of original documents and input data of the number of the total pages thereof, namely, the last page number thereof. It also takes a fairly long period of time to imprint the page data on the copy sheets. Furthermore, when a jam occurs during a copying operation, it is very complicated and hard to imprint predetermined page data onto the copy sheets after a jam reset is preformed, i.e., after a condition in which the sheet is jammed is corrected to continue the copying operation. Another problem is that when the images of two original documents or more are copied on the same face or side of a copy sheet by circulating the copy sheet two times or more in the copying apparatus (hereinafter referred to as composite copy mode, it requires a very complicated operation to imprint the page data on the copy sheet.